Thief of Sparks (Starside Saga Book 1) by Eric Kent Edstrom

Author:Eric Kent Edstrom [Edstrom, Eric Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: k'12
Publisher: Undermountain Books
Published: 2017-03-18T16:00:00+00:00

7

Little Sodden Gray

Kila was halfway to the Harridan Gate when she caught sight of the two men. The sacks on their backs were soaked from the rain. The cats inside had gone still and quiet, probably from exhaustion.

It was well known the Donse Masters gave less for dead animals. She doubted the sailors had stopped to club the cats. She hoped not, anyway.

Returning to the rooftop she and Wen had occupied the previous night, she crouched low and peered to the street.

A carriage drawn by two atlen birds rolled by below. Seven feet tall from talons to crown of feathers, the atlens leaned against leather straps bound around their thick bodies.

A pair of blues like these would cost more than the carriage they pulled. The muscles of their thick upper legs bunched with every lurching step forward. The crown feathers streamed behind them, and water splashed beneath their powerful feet.

With the rain, only a few people on foot slunk along the street. They kept close to the buildings, heads covered by hoods of duck cloth coats common to Starsiders.

Farther down the street a pair of ladies ambled under flimsy parasols meant to shade them from sun. The only people who carried such mechanisms were foreigners.

They would’ve made fine marks for Kila’s fingers under different circumstances. The Watch preferred thieves to rob outsiders than the local merchantry or nobility. Kila was usually happy to oblige.

The sailors would be rounding the bend soon. Kila bit her lip as she tried to come up with a hint of a shadow of a plan.

Something about one of her earlier thoughts tingled her mind.

The Watch!

She could find them and tell them to arrest the sailors.

But arrest them for what? The cats in the men’s possession would make the Watch look upon them rather favorably.

She could tell the Watch that the sailors had beat up her brother, but there was the little problem of them not believing anything Kila said. She was wanted by the Watch, after all.

Forget the Watch, she decided. She still had one advantage at the moment: The sailors didn’t know she was after them.

She imagined them walking along, happy and eager to collect the bounty, probably arguing amiably about where they would spend it all.

The carriage was directly below her now. It was not going very quickly, which was odd. Atlens on an open stretch could pull a carriage faster than horses could.

Her fingers tapped Cayne as her eyes fell on the atlen-driver, a figure shrouded beneath a shapeless covering of oiled sailcloth. Only his hands were visible, holding the atlens’ reins.

She hopped to the next building, easily outpacing the slow carriage. Instinct told her to get to street level.

In three long bounds, she was standing in an alley between two buildings. She positioned herself at the opening to the main thoroughfare and waited.

She heard the squawk of an impatient atlen, then the rumble of the carriage over the paving stones. There was something irregular in the sound.

She peeked around the corner.

The source of the odd sound was obvious.

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